The aim of this study is to determine the knowledge and attitudes of apprentices about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Apprentices are the students who are not able to continue their formal education after primary education in Turkey. This descriptive and cross sectional study was conducted at the "Apprenticeship Training School" in Antalya during February 2007. 1,186 of the 1,500 apprentice students, who were registered at the Apprenticeship Training School, agreed to participate in the study. Participants completed a questionnaire in the classroom which was aimed at determining the level of their knowledge and attitudes about STDs. Percentages and chi square analysis were used in data analysis. 60.9% of the participants recognized at least one of the STDs' names. The most familiar STD was AIDS (67.4%). 83.6% of the participants did not know about the symptoms of STDs. Only 23.4% of participants reported at least one of the possible contraction of STDs of the STDs and 28.1% indicated that they had knowledge about the protection methods against STDs. 51.4% of the apprentices' believed that healthy looking persons could also be infectious and most of the STDs were curable (47.6%). Age, gender, the field of apprenticeship and being educated about STDs emerged as the important demographic characteristics on being acquainted with the symptoms, as well as transmission of and protection from the STDs. Results show that STDs' names and the contraction of and protection from the STDs were known better by the male participants, participants from the field of the personal hygiene education and apprentices whom had prior education about STDs. Results emphasize the need to strengthen the apprentices' STD education on all aspects, including their attitudes and safe sexual practices. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
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